Little Lady Squirrel

This morning I photographed Steller's Jays, Dark eyed Juncos and one little lady Douglas Tree Squirrel. I also had a short run in with the blasted cat. She had to be brought squirming to the back door and deposited inside. She really wanted to get those birds! When I finished my time in the blind and was editing my images I discovered that my compositions were too tight on the Steller's Jays. Almost all of them had the tip of the tail going out of the frame. There were a couple that were in frame but then the head angle was wrong or the Jay had moved its head causing motion blur. the Junco pictures weren't to my liking either. None of the compositions really appealed to me. Of the ones of the Douglas Tree Squirrel there were quite a few that looked really nice. I narrowed it down to this one. God's love and blessings to all, chris Canon 7D and a Canon 100-400 IS lens at 260mm. Settings used, AV mode, ISO 800, F 8.0 at 1/50th of a sec. Camera and lens were supported by a Manfrotto 190XPROB tripod with a heavy duty Bogen ballhead. #TeamCanon,#CanonBringIt

Inside Day

I awoke this morning to the sound of rain. In drought stricken northern California it is sweet music to our ears. Perhaps I'll sneak in some photography during some breaks in the rain today? Otherwise I've got some doors I'm still working on refinishing. They have been sanded and stained out of doors and now all they need is some varnish. What a great inDOOR project! Such a great play on words. To all of my viewers you will have to make due with a Douglas Tree Squirrel from yesterday. Here it is peering out from the knothole feeder claiming the feeder as its own.May you have a blessed day, chris This image was created with a Canon 7D and a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM at 400mm. AV mode,ISO 800, F 5.6 at 1/30th of a sec. Supported on my old venerable Manfrotto 190 XPROB tripod with a heavy duty Bogen ballhead.

Little Birdie

Last night I set up an old knothole feeder in the back yard. This morning I sat in the photolind to wait for whatever would come. One little Junco came and went to get seeds from it. This image was my favorite from the series of images I made. May you have a wonderful week. God bless, chris This image was created with a Canon 7D and a Canon 100-400IS lens. AV mode, ISO 800, F 5.6 at 1/15th of a sec.

Couple of Images from the Backyard

After a couple of days of letting the birds and squirrels use the new bird feeder I set out to photograph them this morning. A bear had knocked over my squirrel feeder so I didn't even bother resetting it back up again. Because of that the birds and squirrels were using the same feeder. There was a fun stand off between the Steller's Jays and a Douglas Tree Squirrel both wanting to use the feeder. The squirrel had posession and wasn't planning on giving up that feeder for anything. That was until it heard the roar of a big truck coming up our driveway. The squirrel, jays and everything else in the area headed for the hills at the sound of the propane truck making its delivery. Afterward the Jays returned first and kept the feeder for some time before the squirrel returned. It gave me plenty of time to get some good jay images. Here are my two favorites from the morning. May you have a blessed weekend, chris Both images were created with a Canon 7D and a Canon 100-400 Is lens. Camera settings were AV mode, ISO 800, F 8.0 at 1/80th of a sec. #TeamCanon, #CanonBringIt

Country Roads

One of the things that I really love about living in a rural area is that photographic opportunities abound. Anywhere outside of the city limits of the town of Willits is in the country. Yesterday I drove down into town and headed north and within minutes I was out in the country. Of course you have to take into account Willits isn't very big. Mention it to most anyone outside of the area and they haven't got a clue as to where it is. Either that or they will mix it up with Willows over in the Central Valley of California. I had a really nice drive. I missed the peak of the fall colors but I still found patches of color here and there. I did a nice loop of country roads that took me in a big circle back to where I started. Enjoy the images and have a blessed day, chris All images were created with a Canon 7D and a Canon EF-s-10-22mm lens or a Tamron 150-600mm lens. #TeamCanon

Fiery Sunset

I knew that we might have a really nice sunset with the fog rolling in all day yesterday. So when I was in the kitchen cooking dinner I was watching the sun go down with anticipation. As the sun got lower and lower I could see streaks of pink staring to appear. When my dish of Cajun Spiced Cabbage was done cooking I turned off the burner and tossed on a lid to keep it warm then I grabbed my camera and made a quick walk down our road. The sun was almost down and I could see a really cool redwood branch that would look great silhouetted in the sunset. I stepped downhill off the road so that I could include the branch into my composition. Checking the back of the camera I repositioned myself and tried again until I had what I wanted. What a gorgeous sunset. It was like the sky was on fire. This image was created with a handheld Canon 7D and a Canon 100-400 IS lens at 130mm. The camera was set in AV mode for more control. I used an ISO of 200, F 11.0 for good depth of field to keep both the branch and the distant sunset in focus. A shutter speed of 1/125th of a sec. May you have a blessed day, chris

No Bird Day

Last night I created a new set up for the birds in the backyard. This morning after sitting in the photoblind for a long time there were very few birds to be seen. Even the hummingbirds were reluctant to use their feeders. First thing I did was to capture the blasted cat when I saw her and put her into the house. That resulted in the minor improvement of one bird coming to the bird feeder but not to the nice perch I had set up for it. After that nothing. Then the fog rolled in which is usually a good thing. Still no birds. Possibly there is a hawk hanging around up in the trees? I went over to my Mom's house and stacked some wood for her and on the return trip I stopped and photographed a young first year Blacktail Deer in nice light on the forests edge. Then I took a walk down our road photographing the forest and later on a leaf. It's still foggy and there aren't any birds calling. It's a good day to sit by the fire and read a book. God's love and blessings to all of you, chris All images created with a Canon 7D and a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Lens. #TeamCanon,#CanonBringIt